It’s Halloween. The Maple Leafs are 4-5-1.
In certain circumstances, there could be more to the record than meets the eyes.
Some really great stretches of play, some unfortunate luck. Heck, maybe even pedestrian goaltending - as was the most likely scenario heading into the season.
But this record - and this group - just hits different right now.
Since opening night vs. Montreal, there has been a consistent theme. It’s not that there hasn’t been chances. It’s not that your elite superstars have forgotten how to play hockey over night.
There has been a theme of uninspiring play from top to bottom, well documented throughout this Substack.
Let’s be clear - this is not a bad hockey team. It’s early days and I’m as confident as anyone that they’ll find their way.
However, what happened last night in Anaheim is inexcusable - and something needs to be done, and fast.
Given all that has transpired so far this season, and how the California road trip has gone, blowing a 2-goal third period lead to a team that has lost 7 games in a row is a special kind of bad.
If this were my decision to make, I would be letting Sheldon Keefe go this morning.
Not because I don’t think he’s a good coach - in fact I think he’s a great coach. His 120-54-21 record at the NHL level speaks for itself.
My concern is that he might just be in over his head, carrying the weight of the last 6 seasons with this core, the last 18 seasons of playoff futility, and the last 55 years without a Stanley Cup.
To be fair, this hasn’t exactly been a dream scenario for a rookie head coach either. Taking over a slumping team in the middle of a season, turning things around only to be stopped by a once-in-a-generation global pandemic. A first playoff series in a bubble. A first real regular season that starts in January, played in front of empty buildings. Given all that, I think he’s performed admirably.
Let’s also be clear - coaching is far from the only issue that plagues this team at the moment. The pressure, coupled with the narrative that these games don’t matter, are the perfect recipe for this early season stretch of brutal hockey. Beyond that, the reconstruction of the bottom 6, faced with the departures of Ilya Mikheyev, Ondrej Kase and Jason Spezza, have not be nearly good enough.
But a loud message needs to be sent, and in my opinion, it needs to be sent today. These games do matter, this team is an elite hockey team, and the level of play to this point is beyond unacceptable.
Who I would replace him with is besides the point.
Obviously it’s tantalizing to have a name like Barry Trotz sitting in the wings, given his recent track record of taking an average New York Islanders team to consecutive conference finals.
His style, and the way this Maple Leafs team is constructed to play, could not be further apart, but it worked for the Washington Capitals and I’m sure he could make it work here too.
Whether he’s interested in the gig or not is a different story.
Just like the 2021-2022 Edmonton Oilers, who were 21-18-3 when Jay Woodcroft took over in February of last season and took them to a conference final, or the 2015-16 Pittsburgh Penguins, who were 15-10-3 when Mike Sullivan was called up from the minors and went on to win a Stanley Cup - new voices with talented groups have shown to make a difference in the past.
It’s time to make the tough call.